SELMA – Cast and crew members are expected to take part Wednesday in a re-enactment of “Bloody Sunday” — a violent incident on a Selma bridge that paved the way for passage of the Voting Rights Act.

Actors and support staff spent part of Tuesday rehearsing their roles for “Selma,” a movie tracing events leading up to the historic federal legislation signed into law in August 1965.

Hot, humid temperatures once again presented challenges for all concerned in the movie. Crews will move on to Montgomery on Thursday for more shooting. Scenes also have been filmed in Atlanta.

Several actors appeared in clerical garb Tuesday, depicting nuns, priests and other religious figures, including Archbishop Iakovos, a Greek Orthodox leader who came to Selma to support the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Michael Shikany, a Catholic businessman from Atlanta, portrays Iakovos in the movie. Shikany was a high school student when Alabama state troopers using billy clubs, cattle prods and tear gas routed 600 black activists on the bridge March 7, 1965.

One woman got an early jump on her role when she ran across the bridge back into Selma, screaming, “The troopers are coming, the troopers are coming.”

Those who received roles in the film gathered at the apex of the bridge for instructions about what was expected of them once the “Bloody Sunday” segment begins.

The original marchers, led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams, had attempted to walk to Montgomery to meet with then-Gov. George Wallace and seek easier access to voter registration procedures.

Instead of assistance, troopers charged into the large group of participants, many of whom had just finished Sunday church services.

Lewis, a Pike County native who continues to serve as a member of Congress from Atlanta, was badly beaten as authorities plowed into the defenseless marchers.

“It wasn’t as bad in Atlanta as it was here,” said Shikany, a part-time actor who auditioned for the role of the Greek religious leader. “No doubt it was a tragic time for our country.”

King wasn’t in Selma when the marchers were routed, but he rushed back to take charge of efforts to resume the march to Montgomery.

That occurred two weeks later and concluded at the Capitol, where Wallace refused to meet with Lewis and other civil rights leaders.

Selma civil rights activists have commemorated “Bloody Sunday” for years — an annual event that attracted President Bill Clinton as well as future President Barack Obama.